Random musings on life, society, and politics

Smothered in a thick, sooty blanket of toxic smoke, San Francisco’s air quality index jumped to a jaw-dropping 271 yesterday afternoon.The map below shows the air quality in the Bay Area, the purple color showing areas with “very unhealthy air quality.”Unfortunately, forecasters are projecting that residents in the Bay Area shouldn’t expect significant relief from the wildfire smoke-choked air until next week.

Here’s me yesterday afternoon wearing my respirator mask as I am out walking my dog. Wildfire smoke can irritate your eyes, nose, throat, and lungs. Hence, a lot of people in the area are wearing masks whenever they have to go outside.

The fire in Butte County, located about 150 miles north northeast of San Francisco, has already claimed 71 lives so far, destroyed more than 142,000 acres in Northern California, and over 1,000 people are now listed as missing.

But don’t worry. Donald Trump will be coming to California today to meet with victims of the massive wildfires. Trump said he also wants to meet with firefighters who have been battling the Camp Fire in Butte County.

I actually have an idea of what you look like without the mask! But with a mask. hahahha. The smoke must be tremendous as you all are sharing it with us in Oregon. I can smell smoke in Central Oregon. We have it bad every August in Oregon due to Wild Fire season – we actually have a season and each July, Aug, Sept – sometimes up to October -we have bad air. And now you guys are sharing with us, but I can’t imagine being in a pocket like that. I’m sorry. 😦 We have asthma and the slightest air quality issue and we’re dying. Also, poor LA area. First the valley had that terrible shooting at the bar with college kids and then a fire. Lot of Malibu gone. In light of the bad, there was good to see how the fire departments across the nation help their brothers. Seeing all the posts of trucks driving from South Dakota, Wyoming, and Texas. Listening to the live facebook stream by the local department – staging areas – of all the engines/companies that they were reading off and indicating who was going where. It was enlightening and filled me with pride to hear as they did role call and everyone saying “here” or “yeah” or “yup” and where they were from.

I can’t imagine how truly bad it is for you who live in the area, and apparently up and down the coast — and every year (to an extent more of less)! When I try to imagine, it horrifies me. But I’m sure I can’t quite get it.

A concern I have on my own account is that one of my sons will be flying through the area next week. He’s going through LA and then Oakland toward the Midwest. Previously, my biggest worry was that flight times could be off.

If you can, put containers of water around the house. the purpose is to increase the humidity, which will help you breathe. You can also use wet (fresh water) clothes to keep wiping your eyes and face. It’s not much, but it helps. Oh, and the dog, too.
I hope there’s some respite coming, that it settles down and the smoke falls or blows away. And try not to do anything too strenuous. Try not to breathe too much of it in.
People can suffer serious health consequences from a smoky environment.

JERRY BROWN: There’s a tremendous effort fighting these fires, and I want to personally thank all the firefighters who are on the line—the members of Cal Fire, also the National Guard and the thousands of inmates who are also on the line fighting to protect lives and bring these fires to a quick close, to the extent that’s at all possible.

…. a look at who’s actually fighting the fires. And it may just surprise you. In addition to roughly 7,000 full-time and seasonal California firefighters, the state relies on about 3,500 prisoners, including many women, to battle the blazes. The California Department of Corrections tweeted last week that at least 2,000 prisoners are currently fighting the wildfires burning across the state, including 58 youth offenders.

This is really bad. I’m so distressed for all those poor people, it is heartbreaking. It is also awful for you and hazardous. I heard Trump say on the news that the problem is you have to take care of the forest floors, like he knew what he was talking about 😤